The ledger has arrived in St. Johns. 🧐📜
Tonight, I'm opening the books on St. Johns Public Schools with the same 10-year comparison I've used for districts across Michigan: 2014–15 versus 2024–25, using Michigan Department of Education Bulletin 1014 data.
And this one gives us quite a bit to ponder over our tea.
Over the decade, St. Johns' fall pupil count declined from 3,069 to 2,459.79.
That is a loss of 609.21 pupils — or 19.85%.
Nearly one-fifth of the enrollment.
Now let us follow the money.
On a per-pupil basis:
📜 All Sources Revenue
$9,024 → $14,713
After inflation: +20.03%
📚 Total Instruction
$5,783 → $8,956
After inflation: +14.01%
✏️ Instructional Support
$1,002 → $1,394
After inflation: +2.42%
🏛� Business & Administration
$734 → $1,671
After inflation: +67.60%
🔧 Operations & Maintenance
$970 → $1,540
After inflation: +16.88%
And then we arrive at the teachers.
Average teacher salary increased from $60,526 to $70,054.
That looks like a $9,528 raise over the decade — until Lady Budgetdown reaches for the inflation spectacles.
After adjusting for the cumulative 35.831185% increase in CPI-U used throughout this series, average teacher salary actually declined 14.79% in purchasing-power terms.
So here is what the decade shows:
Enrollment: −19.85%
Business & Administration per pupil, after inflation: +67.60%
Average teacher salary, after inflation: −14.79%
Now, before anyone begins sharpening a pitchfork in either direction, these numbers do not tell us WHY.
They tell us what happened.
And that is precisely why I follow the receipts before drawing conclusions.
The next question is an obvious one:
With nearly 20% fewer pupils, what happened to staffing over the same decade?
Teachers? Support staff? Administrators?
That, dearest reader, is where Steps 2 and 2A take us next. 🧐
The ledger is open.
With receipts and respect. 💙📜
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